This week he posted a pair of tweets about a new Android smartphone from South Korea's LG Electronics, Inc. (KRX:066570)(KRX:066575). He refers to the device as the LG Isai FL, and shows it in blue and white:

The phone is reportedly debuting on the network of Japan's KDDI Corp. (TYO:9433). KDDI -- which also owns the local UQ Communications network -- is currently in third place in the tight Japanese telecom race, behind NTT Docomo Inc. (TYO:9437) (in first) and Softbank Corp. (TYO:9984) (in second).

Unlike domestic rival and world smartphone leader Samsung Electronics Comp., Ltd. (KRX:005930) (KRX:005935) which typically introduces products first in either its home country (South Korea) or in the U.S., LG often uses the Japanese market as a test bed for its upcoming smartphone designs, as they get up to speed volume-wise.

The name was typically spelled in Japanese letters, rather than Kanji, leaving it ambiguous which of the three meanings -- "conspicuous color", "details/particulars" or "prodigy/man of genius" -- the name meant.

This year it looks like Japan may be getting a leg up on the U.S. when it comes to the LG G3. Reportedly the Isai FL (aka the LG L24) is the LG G3. The screen on the leaked shots reads "May 1st" hinting at when it may be announced.

The LG G3 will be coming in gold, apparently. [Image Source: The Verge]

The Vergereports that outside of Japan it is being developed under the code name "B2" and is "set for a summer release." They got their hands on a product box that's rather golden. And they say to expect a golden model variant, similar to the Samsung Galaxy S5 and Apple, Inc. (AAPL) iPhone 5S.

Lastly, Ubergizmois reporting that the new phone pack a quad high-definition (QHD) (2560x1440 pixels). QHD is commonly referred to as "2K", and is the next step up the screen resolution ladder, from 1080p (1920x1080 pixels), the current ubiquitous standard in the high-end smartphone market. If true, this would be a first for a mass market U.S. release.

We do know, however, that QHD is incoming to the smartphone market. China's OPPO Electronics Corp. was the first major device maker to announce a device with QHD with the Oppo Find 7.

The Oppo Find 7

The Find 7 will surely make a stir when it debuts in coming months. However, that device's 5.5-inch QHD LCD panel reportedly illustrates why others like Samsung have been slow to adopt QHD. The device reportedly needs a whopping 3000 mAh battery to deliver a 13 hour talk time. Contrast that with the HTC Corp. (TPE:2498) HTC One Max, which has a larger screen (5.9-inches, 1080p), and only a slightly larger batter (3300 mAh) but still manages to near double the Find 7's talk time (HTC One Max: 25 hours).

QHD LCD displays are clearly very power hungry.

In OPPO's case, the plan appears to be to offset that with the new 4x charging speed technology -- whose full name is "voltage opened loop and multi-step constant current charging", and has the more manageable abbreviation "VOOC". VOOC promises to charge that 3000 mAh cell to 75 percent, so a quick refresh on the way to work may be enough to help your QHD phone survive the day.

(Remember, 13 hours of official capacity will quickly deteriorate in a year or so to as little as several hours worth.)

Vivo -- another Chinese manufacturer -- has a similar device called the Xplay 3S on the market currently in China, which features a 6-inch QHD display, a 3200 mAh battery, and similar battery difficulties. Vivo offers up this justification of going 2K, examining the aforementioned improvement in text rendering:

Alternatively, a designer like LG might be looking to avoid this problem by using an OLED QHD panel. That would obviously be an expensive solution, but it could spare the user a lot of headaches that even VOOC can't fully mitigate.

Of course the inevitable debate will be whether we truly need a 2K display in such a small device, when laptops are only starting to get these kinds of resolutions in mass market designs. The high resolution could make text more readable or help with other applications where true rendering trumps anti-aliasing fallbacks to some extent. However, many users may notice little difference versus 1080p, but notice a big difference in terms of inferior battery life. Unfortunately for those unhappy with that trade off, all the market's top players appear headed towards QHD adoption.